| Precooking of meat can be a more consumer-friendly alternative to irradiation, as a means of prevention of food-borne illness. Lipid oxidation leading to the rapid development of warmed-over flavor (WOF) are the major impediments to the wide use of precooking.; The efficacy of a new vascular infusion (VI) technique to improve the antioxidative - prooxidative ratio in beef carcasses and in the resulting meat was tested. In three separate studies, different VI solutions (containing monosaccharides, glycerin, and/or CaCl2, vitamin C and vitamin E) were infused into beef steers at the time of slaughter. The development of rancidity (TBARS), and the vitamin E and cholesterol content was monitored. It was shown that VI with vitamin E resulted in meat that was more resistant to lipid oxidation and it also had lower iron and cholesterol content and higher vitamin E content. It was also shown that VI can be used to efficiently administer antioxidants to beef immediately following slaughtering. VI resulted in meat that has an improved antioxidant - prooxidant ratio, is more resistant to lipid oxidation and therefore would have a longer shelf-life before it developed WOF. Furthermore, VI could provide an alternative to costly vitamin E supplementation through the diet.; The potency of the tocotrienols as antioxidants in meat was tested and compared to alpha-tocopherol. Native alpha-tocotrienol was utilized first during a storage period of six days indicating that it may be a more useful antioxidant than alpha-tocopherol. When alpha-tocopherol and alpha-tocotrienol were added into meat, no differences between the two were observed.; In related studies, a new, rapid HPLC method for the simultaneous analysis of all eight vitamin E homologs and cholesterol in muscle tissue was developed. |
